


Family Mall Visit

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 19:57:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8174077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Alex and James go to the mall for the day.





	

It had been a long time since James had last seen his sister around his fort. But now here she was, riding over to him at a trot after having a conversation with the security guard.

“Hey, baby brother,” said Alex, dismounting her pony to be closer to his level. He thanked her for the kindness, not many people were nice enough to do that for him.

“I’m in my twenties,” James muttered, then growled as he felt his hat lift off his head. “Give my hat back, you stupid horse.”

“Tin Can, don’t call him that,” Alex chastised, and snatched the hat away from her naughty pony. James scowled at the horse slobber on it, then wiped it off as best he could and put the hat back on his head where it belonged.

“Long time no see, sis,” said James. Alex looked a little sad at that.

“Yeah, I know. Busy with druid stuff,” said Alex. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” said James. “You’re busy saving the world, and I’m just here running my tourism business.”

“Which is doing great, by the way,” said Alex, lightening up as she smiled. “Everyone wants to go here, and the place looks great since its renovation.”

“And you said that saving every penny like a little gremlin was stupid,” said James, looking very smug. It took a little of the sting out of the memory of that fight. James saw the sadness in her eyes though. “You’re always sad now, do you really miss her that much?” Alex nodded, and James hugged her. Alex returned the hug gratefully. At least her brother understood when actions spoke louder than words. After a while Alex let go of him and straightened up, clearing her throat.

“Anyway, I came here for a reason,” said Alex. “While I was at the mall talking to mama, I spoke to the janitor and he said that you’ve got some more stuff to pick up.”

“Right, I was wondering where those orders were,” said James. “I’ll send one of the girls in to pick it up.”

“No you won’t,” said Alex. “You’re coming with me. Come on.”

“But I’m not allowed to catch the bus,” said James. “Not after I tried to forge a bus pass…”

“Who said we were taking the bus?” asked Alex, gesturing to her demon on four legs.

“No way I’m riding that,” said James, frowning at the golden pony. Tin Can snorted at him.

“You don’t have to,” said Alex. “Just grab a horse from here and we can ride to the mall.”

“Okay,” said James. Alex tried not to laugh as her brother picked out the tallest horse in the stables. Then, when the Shire was clearly not having him, James instead selected a Friesian Sport Horse. Alex helped her brother up onto the horse’s back after tacking her up, and then the two set off in the direction of Jorvik City.

The ride there was quiet. They talked about recent happenings in Jorvik, tourist attractions, pretty girls the two had noticed. They didn’t talk about family, or about topics involving a certain blue-eyed girl.

“How did you manage to get your hands on a Lipizzan horse?” asked Alex after some time had passed. James didn’t answer. Oh. So it had to do with her.

“At least you’ll get on well with your future sister-in-law,” said Alex, smiling. It was strange to need to look up at her brother, but at least he felt tall like this.

“She has her perks,” said James.

They lapsed into silence again, and Alex was pleased to see her brother enjoying the sounds of birds other than gulls and the rustle of leaves. He needed to get out of the fort more.

At last, countryside changed into a forest, which changed into a bustling city. They dismounted and led their horses to a place where they could be tied up. And finally, Alex stepped through the automatic doors of the mall and felt cold air wash over her. She shivered slightly and wished for a coat or something.

“So, where to first?” asked Alex. “The janitor didn’t say where your orders were, just that they were here.”

“Horse tack, clothes, and accessories,” said James. “I’ll go get them, you can wait for me.”

After collecting his orders, James left the boxes with the janitor and then set off in search of his sister. She wouldn’t be in the clothes store, but maybe the tack shop or that one weird alchemy place?

James eventually found Alex in a bookstore, of all places. He’d forgotten that his sister could be a bit of a bookworm. And it wasn’t surprising at all to see Alex flicking through the pages of a hefty crystal guide.

“Wrong, wrong, so wrong,” Alex muttered, scanning the pages. She glowered at the front of the book before she put it back. “A druid definitely didn’t write or approve of this.”

“Do you really think the druids would just give out information to anyone?” asked James, startling Alex out of her thoughts.

“Good point,” said Alex. “Did you get everything done?”

“Yep,” said James. “We can go now if you want.”

“Aww, didn’t you want to spend the day with your sister?” Alex pouted dramatically. James laughed.

“Alright, I guess we can do that,” said James. “Are you going to buy anything in here, or are you just picking at the inaccurate information?”

“I’m still looking,” said Alex. She walked off to the fiction section and picked up another book. James followed her, seeing a book that he remembered seeing someone reading.

“Louisa likes fantasy stuff, right?” asked James. Alex gave him a strange look.

“Yeah,” said Alex. “Why?”

“Do you think she’ll be impressed if I find her a book?” asked James.

“Maybe,” said Alex. “I guess it’s worth a shot.” She didn’t want to deliver that crushing blow to her brother just yet. At least, not today. And besides, her friend would get a book out of it.

They left the bookstore with their purchases, James looking like he was daydreaming about sweeping a girl off her feet with a book. Then, he came out of his thoughts and headed towards the video game store. This time, Alex did laugh as she followed him.

“Can you get me this game?” asked James, picking a case off a shelf. Alex looked at it curiously. It looked a little violent, but then again, James was only a few years younger than her. Still, she knew that she had to buy it for him so that he wouldn’t face questions about his age by the well-meaning salesperson.

“Alright,” said Alex. “But don’t throw it away if it gives you nightmares.”

“Hey, that was Josh who did that, not me,” said James. “I just sold it online.”

“Right, you wouldn’t throw anything away if you could sell it,” said Alex, nodding. She bought the game, and then the two headed off to the café. James ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, of course, while Alex just ordered a quiche and a strawberry milkshake. 

“Quiche and strawberry milkshake and barramundi and fries?” the waitress asked, and put the plates down when Alex nodded. She cringed inwardly as James got her meal and a pat on the head by the waitress. “Enjoy your meal, you two. So nice to see a mother taking her son out for lunch.”

“Oh, he’s my brother,” said Alex.

“Oh, sorry, my mistake,” said the waitress, blushing. She scurried away, but Alex was surprised to see James grinning at her.

“That means that you look old enough to be my mum,” said James, laughing.

“Rude,” said Alex, and stole one of his chips before swapping the plates around. James stuck his finger in her drink before sliding it across to her. Alex glared at him for a second but then she just laughed. It had been too long since she’d had a day out with her brother like this. Stealing chips from each others plates, declaring that their drink had backwash in it to stop the other from drinking it, actually spitting on their food or in their drink to prevent it being stolen.

“We should probably start heading back now,” said James after lunch had been eaten. He checked his watch. “I left one of the girls looking after the stables, but I want to get back before the disco.”

“Probably a good idea,” said Alex. “But this was nice though. We should do this more often.”

“Well, you can visit anytime,” said James. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

“When I have time,” said Alex. “But we will have a brother-sister outing again in the future, I promise.”

“Great,” said James, grinning. He hugged her again, and Alex smiled. She hadn’t been so close to her brother since high school.


End file.
